BRIEF BLOG INTRO:NEWS UPDATE: I have been given the Editor's Choice Award for "Excellence in Songwriting" by BroadwayWorld. I am most grateful. If you've never been here...

I'm a man on a mission. A mission to convince you that music is a Super Power, and that life is worth living, no matter how many obstacles are placed in your way. And that you can accomplish great things if you just push ahead and don't let anyone tell you no.

I'm a singer/songwriter and actor from Texas who is "Living in the Bonus Round" in New York City-- which is my way of describing how I feel having cheated death. (In a game show, the Bonus Round is where time speeds up and the prizes are better.) Accepting my death changed me. Now, I'm consuming life as quickly and as fully as I can, while still taking time to breathe and appreciate every single day as an utter miracle.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

I had my meeting today. The important one. It involves a very big project I have been focusing on for more than a few years. It's a dream I have been carrying for a very long time. And, unless I'm a completely deluded person, it went very, very well.

I want to divulge the full details of the meeting, but at this moment, because it involves more people than just me, I'm going to hold off making any formal announcement. Also, I'm superstitious about discussing stuff too soon.

But the reason I'm saying something here and now is not to tease you, but to mark the date.

What I can say is that if it works out, it will involve hundreds of voices, an orchestra and a very large concert hall. But even more than that, it will be a part of an anniversary celebration a historically and artistically significant musical institutions -- and the anniversary of one of the most important political figures of my world.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

When we were in Tucson, we met a filmmaker named Scott Griessel who gave me an advance copy of the film he had just finished, a documentary called "The Asphalt Gospel" about a group of self-described Christians who walked from Phoenix to Washington, DC.

I loved it so much, I did something I don't remember ever having done before. I formally interviewed him. Now, frankly, I don't think anyone is ever going to mistake me for Regis Philbin, but I did enjoy the challenge of turning a half hour of conversation into a five minute interview. What do you think? Do I have a new career?

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgendered — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgendered people.

[Photo from San Francisco DOR 2001]We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgendered people, an action that current media doesn’t perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgendered people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.

I haven't posted a lot of personal blogs from here because I keep thinking I'll make videos. But then I've gotten so much footage and have gotten so backed up on putting them together, it all starts to get too overwhelming. And then days go by. And it's just too much to remember.

So, first of all, Zero Hour is doing really well. In the first week, before anyone knew it was here, there was little or no pre-sale on the box office. So, this run -- which was scheduled at the last minute as a fill-in show because Ed Decker loved it so much -- is starting to take off. The reviews, as you have seen, have been extraordinary. And it's so nice when the audience begins to show up and really enjoy the show.

One of the nicer visitors we had was a young 15 year old named Anthony, who is undergoing a great deal of health issues. His father wrote and said that Anthony was a true Zero Mostel fan and could we meet afterwards. The answer, of course, was yes yes yes. Such a smart, articulate young man. It was sad to know he was having to deal with life-threatening problems so young.

Jim met him afterwards and gave him the painting he painted during the show:

Meanwhile, I've been in a little rehearsal room working on music while Jimmy is on stage. Ed came in the other night and I was passed clean out in the chair in there. So, I guess I haven't been QUITE as productive as I'd have liked. But still, we were invited to a dinner party Sunday night and I sang some songs from our New York revue and got great kudos all around. So, I'm very excited about finishing the project so we can move on to the next one.

Last night, Monday, I went to a rehearsal of the SF Gay Men's Chorus under Dr. Kathleen McGuire. They sounded fantastic, of course, rehearsing for their Christmas concert. It was fun to see Kathleen in action. She's so good. She announced to the group that I was writing a piece for them. (That was the big news I hinted about last week). She's very receptive to the Peace Cantata I've been writing, but the two of us have yet to just sit down and go through it.

So, who knows? She may hate the whole thing. But I love these songs which I've been working on for several years and I would just DIE if the chorus sang even ONE of them. Point being, we're looking at it and if she thinks it fits in with their message, then maybe we'll pull it off together. I do hope so.

I also have had a few evening "song-trading" nights with Daniel. I'd sing a song of mine. And he'd sing a song of his. He really is special, this boy. So cute and so talented. I'm grateful to Ed for making it possible for us to get back together.

Jim has kind of been shaking a cold since we got here. So, really, we haven't been touring around the city or anything. Mostly, I've been trying to keep him warm and quiet. This show is two hours of high energy octane and he doesn't stop for a moment. The great thing, though, is seeing his performance grow and grow and grow. Once he was able to stop thinking about the changes in the book, he began focusing entirely on his characterization -- and it's light years farther along now than when he opened. Which was light years beyond what he did in Los Angeles.

This past week, we also made friends with the director of the Ira & Lenore Gershwin Trust. Mike is a very down to earth guy. He and his wife came to see Zero and were totally blown away. So, they invited down there. And, once again, VIDEO. But how do you choose shots when everything is so amazing? All these paintings and drawing by George and Ira. Incredible.

Meanwhile, across the Big Pond, my friend Ramin Karimloo who's playing the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera has just released a solo CD featuring, among other songs, "At Least I Know What's Killing Me" from The Last Session. You can get it at Dress Circle.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Zero Hour, a one-man act being shown at The New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) recounting the life of actor Zero Mostel, is a mesmerizing and refreshingly witty show from beginning to end. Under the direction of Brendan James, the stage is dominated with boundless confidence by Jim Brochu, recipient of three L.A. Drama Circle Awards and personal friend of the late Mostel. The scene is set in Mostel's cozy art studio shortly after the successful release of The Producers. Brochu plays the larger-than-life actor and creates a tone of immediacy by addressing the audience directly in an explosive voice. The questions of a beginning reporter from the New York Times who is assigned to interview Mostel are answered with brutal sarcasm, perfectly timed comedic wit and, most powerfully, genuine honesty. From the Lower East Side of Manhattan where Mostel spent his early youth painting, reading literature and making people laugh, to the devastating accident that crushed his leg in 1960 following Mostel's rise to fame, the play covers many significant moments in the infamous actor's life. Brochu rounds out the character of Mostel through a mastery of facial expressions and timing, manipulating the mood of the audience with absurd impressions (a butterfly at rest) and painfully earnest recollections of loved ones. One moment the room is quaking with laughter from a story about performing in comedy clubs in the 1940s, the next: dead silence while Brochu describes the horrors of McCarthy's Blacklist America. For a one-man show, Brochu creates the feeling of a full cast play, painting unforgettable pictures of friends, actors, family and most memorably, Mostel himself.-Travis Schirmer

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Just before "Zero Hour" tonight, Jim got a package in the mail. It was a certificate that read, WINNER! The Lee Hartgrave Fame Award for Best Actor in a Play in 2007.

Lee Hartgrave is a critic and reporter in the San Francisco area. After we got home, we looked for his online review of "Zero Hour" to find out more. Here is what he wrote:

It isn’t Jim Brochu that comes out on the stage – its famed actor Zero Mostel. The play starts with Mostel in his Studio, where he paints. This is also his retreat where he can get away from the world, except for the occasional phone call from his wife demanding that he stop and get something from the store for her. There is a knock at the door – and Mostel yells – “What do want? Who is it?). Finally he gets up and lets the visitor in. It is a Newspaper Reporter (N.Y. Times) who is here for a scheduled interview. An interview that Mostel forgot about or wanted to forget about. Right away, we get the feeling that Mostel is a miserable f—ck. He hates just about everything, and Newspaper reporters are at the top of the list.

Brochu is a master at bringing out all the diverse channels of Mostel’s schizo personality. One minute he is charming as hell, then – the next minute he is screaming at you. He is unpredictable and you have to walk on eggs around him. Brochu also looks amazingly like Mostel. His eyes are bulging and they seem to bulge out even more when he gets into talking about McCarthy and blacklisting of actors. Mostel was one of them, and he has never gotten over it. His telling of the tale of McCarthy cross-examining him is brilliant.

He was born Samuel Mostel. He was encouraged to change his name to Zero when a friend told him that he should change it. Mostel wanted to know what was wrong with Samuel? The friend said something like this: “When was the last time that you got a job?” It turns out that it had been some time. “Exactly”, said the friend. “It’s Zero. So that will be your new name.” The name has been good for the actor.

Mostel is probably best known for the play “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” But, along the way he had made a huge splash in many plays, especially Ionesco’s Rhinoceros. Mostel’s best friend – the one who changed his first name was actor Philip Loeb, who could not deal with the blacklisting stain. His career slipped, as did many in those times. He committed suicide. Mostel was devastated. Brochu’s telling of those days is very heart-rending.

Throughout this tour-de-force by Brochu he takes us on a bumpy hilarious ride with funny quips to deep emotional feelings that Mostel had on various subjects. Who else could be better suited to bring Mostel back to life than Brochu, who was also a friend of Mostel’s. He had plenty of time to absorb the mans inner feelings. This is big time acting that is headed for Broadway. Instead of spending the bucks to see it in New York – why not see it here before it goes there? ZERO IS A PLUS!

AT THE NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE

RATING: FOUR GLASSES OF CHAMPAGNE!!!! –trademarked- (highest rating)WINNER! The Lee Hartgrave Fame Award for Best Actor in a Play in 2007

Friday, November 16, 2007

[Forwarded message from The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts'electronic eNewsletter - please feel free to repost where appropriate.]

Just about everyone who knows theater knows GYPSY, the landmark 1959 Broadway musical based on the life ofBurlesque show stripper, best-selling author, and larger-than-life personality Gypsy Rose Lee (1914-1970). TheTheatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT) has videorecordedthe show several times over the years, includingproductions starring Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters and, mostrecently, Patti LuPone as Mama Rose (the character based onLee's mother), supported by various actresses in the titlerole of GYPSY. However, some researchers may be surprisedto learn that TOFT also holds 76 episodes of Gypsy RoseLee's own talk show, taped in California in the mid-1960sand hosted by the real article herself. Lee was making TVappearances as early as 1949 and hosted her first talk showin '58, but her most successful and long-lasting programwas the daytime series produced for San Francisco's stationKGO-TV from 1965 to 1968, titled simply GYPSY ROSE LEE.

TOFT's collection of this series was donated to the archiveseveral years ago by Erik Preminger, Lee's son by filmdirector Otto Preminger. The tapes do not represent acomplete run of the show, but nonetheless include a numberof fascinating episodes featuring an often surprising line-up of talent. Lee, who began her career as a childperformer in Vaudeville, drew upon her extensive showbusiness contacts to attract colorful personalities fromthe worlds of theatre, film, TV, popular music, andelsewhere. Catalog records for all 76 episodes of the showare in CATNYP , so by typingthe title of the show into the Title search field,a researcher can summon up brief descriptions of thelibrary's holdings. Click on the title field of anyrecord, and a full description of that episode will appear.

For theater buffs perhaps the most intriguing episode isthe one featuring Ethel Merman, who introduced the role ofMama Rose in the original Broadway production of GYPSY.Merman reminisces about that experience as Lee shows homemovie footage of the rehearsals at the New AmsterdamTheatre, giving us brief glimpses of composer Jule Styne,director/choreographer Jerome Robbins, and lyricist StephenSondheim. Other episodes of the show feature interviewswith the likes of Chita Rivera, Eddie Foy Jr., fan dancerSally Rand, Van Johnson, Yvonne De Carlo, Liberace, FlipWilson, Rosemary Clooney, Pat Morita, diarist Anaos Nin,Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols, female impersonator T. C.Jones, Pat O'Brien, the ill-fated Bob Crane of HOGAN'SHEROS, and a very young Woody Allen. The musical guestscontribute numbers you won't hear anywhere else: LainieKazan performs a sexy novelty tune entitled "Peel Me aGrape," jazz vocalist Carmen McRae sings "Live for Love"backed by her touring band, and Norman Wisdom performs thetitle tune from Walking Happy while comedian Red Buttonsdances. There are also references to contemporary eventsand cultural trends of the era, such as the war in Vietnamand San Francisco's then-flourishing hippie movement. Leeoften refers to her own interests and causes, especiallyanimal rights.

The Gypsy Rose Lee collection offers a mother lode ofmaterial for pop culture historians, and is one of TOFT'slittle-known treasures.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Obnoxious can be funny if it's safely on the other side of the footlights. One is grateful for that unbreached fourth wall in "Zero Hour," which has Jim Brochu reincarnating the force of nature known as Zero Mostel. An autobiographical monologue disguised as an interview with an unseen reporter, the one-man show visits Mostel just before his abrupt 1977 demise. Scheduled for Gotham early next year, the modest but engaging solo show stands a good chance of connecting with older theatregoers for whom the subject's name still carries currency.

A larger-than-life personality who would be unbearable if he weren't just as entertaining as he thinks he is, Mostel is found in his dingy "sanctuary" of a studio -- painting being a lifelong passion, even more than performing.

Brochu (Off Broadway's "The Big Voice: God or Merman?") first impresses with his striking physical resemblance, contrived via a two-tone beard, comb-over and facial expressions. But it's his motor-mouth, seldom on any setting less than Maximum Rant, that cinches the impersonation.

Alternately (when not simultaneously) insulting, generous, enraged, polite and sentimental, Mostel starts out calling his New York Times guest "putz." When that offends, he kindly switches to "schmuck."More-or-less chronological recap of the thesp's life and times dashes through his childhood, early career as a nightclub comedian, ditched first marriage, lasting second one (though he seems to view wedlock, like everything else, in combative terms), abortive first stab at Hollywood, and bright prospects as a stage actor.

That was put in deep freeze for a full decade, however, when he was blacklisted along with many other entertainment-industry leftists during the HUAC witch hunts. This "intellectual Final Solution," which particularly targeted Jews, provides the evening with its dramatic core -- and seemingly provided Mostel with a bottomless well of bitter fury.When Mostel's career finally revived -- playing Leopold Bloom in "Ulysses in Nighttown" Off Broadway and Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" were the start -- his greatest triumphs found him most grudgingly re-united with Jerome Robbins, who had "named names" to save himself. (After recounting how he confronted the choreographer and his "loose lips" at the start of a rehearsal period, he allows "You know, that little weasel is a genius.")

Genuinely appreciative as he is toward some colleagues, Mostel is also resentful, pointlessly volatile, perverse -- and often knowingly very funny while acting out.

He hated, hated, hated "The Producers," his best known film, apparently because he thought he looked like a fat slob in it. (No argument there.) Then again, he rages over the unpardonable offense of not getting to play Tevye again in the "Fiddler" movie.

For all the volatility deftly captured and bottled by Brochu, Mostel's restless mind can't stop cracking jokes either, or impeccably timing every hairpin turn in mood or volume for comic effect.

Brochu's text is compact and colorful and Brendan James' direction tight, but the production's design elements (pretty much limited to some shifting lighting emphases and occasional background sound snippets) are modest. Does the studio (for which no set designer is credited) have to look that drab? Hanging a few sketches and paintings around wouldn't hurt.

Jim Brochu must have had a charmed life. Not only did he grow up knowing Ethel Merman, he also had a fairly long friendship with Zero Mostel. No matter how many other theater legends he's known, it's almost impossible to top that combination.

Actor and playwright Brochu made good use of his Merman intimacy in "The Big Voice: God or Merman?," the long-running off-Broadway hit he co-wrote and performed with his partner, composer Steve Schalchlin, delightfully reprised at New Conservatory Theatre Center earlier this season. Now he's back at NCTC in a pre-New York run of "ZeroHour," a one-man tribute to Mostel for which he won a best-play award in Los Angeles last year.

It isn't as beguilingly disarming or original an effort as "Voice." "Zero" is a more standard famous-person portrait with the usual thin excuse to explain why the subject is telling his life story (the audience is a reporter come for an interview). Brochu's effort to re-create and sustain Mostel's boisterous unpredictability, quick wit and eruptions of real and assumed outrage can seem artificial and mannered at times.

But it's an impressive tour de force for the most part (Brochu should get some kind of award just for keeping his eyes bulging in the Mostel manner), a fitting tribute to an irreplaceable force of theatrical nature and a suitably outraged account of the cultural and political purges known as McCarthyism and their invidiously anti-Semitic effect. It's also an often eye-opening account of Mostel's life, from his childhood ambitions to be an artist (he often said he was a painter who acted to support his family), work as a stand-up comic (and how Samuel Mostel acquired the nickname Zero) to the accident that crushed his left leg just when his career was reviving after a decade of being blacklisted.

The interview-play takes place in Mostel's cluttered studio (he sketches as he talks) in 1977, on the eve of rehearsals for Arnold Wesker's "The Merchant" (later retitled "Shylock") - a few months before Mostel died, at 62, after the first preview in Philadelphia. Mostel is peremptory, anarchic, outrageous, reflective, furious and very funny; Brochu peppering his script with the great comic's best quips. He's also touching, recounting the deep pain of being disowned by his parents for marrying a gentile and the abiding sorrow of losing his best friend, the actor Philip Loeb, who committed suicide after his career was destroyed by the blacklist.

There are few insights into Mostel's actorly art, his amazing transformation into a rhinoceros in Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" or his creation of Tevye's intimacy with his God (and some of his lyrics) in "Fiddler on the Roof." There are also stories that may be apocryphal, such as his tirade at Jerome Robbins, who'd named names, when Robbins took over rehearsals for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (in other accounts, Mostel simply said, "Hiya, loose lips").

But this is Mostel talking, and it could be what he wished he'd said. The amount of material and insight Brochu packs into the show is impressive, entertaining and salutary. If he isn't as light on his physical and dramatic feet as Mostel was, few are. His "Zero" is a moving tribute and a cautionary tale, generally well told.

A band video of the song "Workin' On The Night Crew." Steve, Daniel, Marta & Ned along with KC who couldn't play cuz he had smashed his finger the night before. It sucks to have a job. Everything was done in one take cuz we were too tired to fix any mistakes. Oh, and Daniel's still looking for work. He's the insufferably cute emo-looking straight boy on guitar. Marta, Ned, KC and Steve have a once a year gig in a band called Preocuppied Pipers, part of the International Pop Overthrow.

Produced by Vinnie's Vipers at Timbertrout Studios in Oakland. (Which would be us in KC's garage). Shot on a Sony Handydam with a broken automatic lens cover. KC Bowman: Engineer (with the big glasses), background vocals. Ned Sykes: Drums, background vocals. Marta Sykes: Bass, background vocals, but she is one of the most awesome singers in the world). Daniel Bernstein: Guitar (we didn't actually know he could play -- Steve brought him along to hold the video camera). Steve Schalchlin: Piano, lead vocal.

There is also an mpg4 of this over at http://blip.tv/file/481101 and we encourage mash-ups of our music, especially if you include actual pictures of people workin' a graveyard shift.

Monday, November 12, 2007

The full review is not out, but Jim was given CRITICS CHOICE today in the SF Chronicle. This is the full blurb:

Jim Brochu, who channeled an impressive Ethel Merman in The Big Voice: God or Merman, takes on another theatrical legend he's known in his one-man tribute to the great Zero Mostel, as the actor looks back over his life on the eve of rehearsals for what would be his last play if he'd lived for the opening. The setup is trite and Brochu's performance is mannered at times, but this is a very funny, often moving and suitably outraged account of Mostel�s life, his wonderfully anarchic humor and the terrible impact of the cultural and political purges known as McCarthyism.--R. Hurwitt

This past weekend was one of the most fun weekends of my entire life -- and that's saying a lot. First of all, Jimmy was dazzling on opening night. Seriously. I know I brag about my husband a lot, but Saturday night, he had that audience whipped into a frenzy. And he did it again on Sunday afternoon. It was absolutely electrifying. Here are some screen shots:

After the show, Daniel (yes! THE Daniel) and I drove over to Oakland to Timbertrout Studios where we recorded the most garage band version of "The Night Crew" you could ever imagine. It was KC, Marta and Ned, along with two dogs and Daniel. Now, the reason I dragged Daniel along was because he was so good on the video before, I thought he could tape us recording the song. Who knew he was a great musician? He picked up the guitar and kicked our asses.

So, I will have pics, video and music of that adventure soon. Stayed tuned!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Lately, there have been numerous stories on various websites and in local newspapers about men getting caught by authorities having "gay sex" in public places, Senator Larry Craig being the most famous.

But all over the country, Republican politicians are getting caught right and left engaging in public, illegal, anonymous sex. You cannot believe how many of these stories are popping up. And all of these people have things in common:

1. They are vehemently anti-gay in their political views. So, they stand and tell the masses how "evil" homosexuality is, and how they stand for "family values" (because, presumably, there are no gay people in anyone's family).

2. They are closeted.

3. They are in denial about their gayness.

I read recently that in all the "sting" operations conducted by local police on places where so-called gay men are having public sex, almost NONE of the people were actually OUT of the closet gay men. In one sting there was not a single man arrested who wasn't married and pretending to be straight. IT AIN'T US DOING THIS CRAP.

In other words, ACTUAL gay people who live their lives openly and freely are not the ones frequenting these parks and bathrooms. Sure, there was a time in the not so distant past when parks and bathrooms and other dark places were the only places gay people could even find each other. (And I'm not saying that there isn't a subset that doesn't enjoy anonymous, public sex, but it's only a very, very few of the millions of out, proud, happy, well-adjusted, spiritually centered gay people in existence in this country).

That's why I get really annoyed when people who hate us use these bathrooms and parks against us when they start talking about how "dirty" or "sinful" we are. Folks, WE ARE NOT THE ONES DOING IT. Who's doing it? The "straight" man who is angry and loudly hateful of gay persons. I guarantee you behind almost every homophobe with a big mouth is a closeted queer trying to hide his true nature by telling everyone else how terrible gay people are -- and how we should be denied the right to marry.

The irony is that if all these people would stop lying to themselves and become a part of our community, the bathrooms and the parks would once again be safe for families. You want REAL family values? Tell your homophobic, anti-gay, venom-spouting legislator to shut the hell up and start doing what it ACTUALLY takes to create a safe environment: Come out of the closet, find a partner, shut yer yap about how "evil" everyone else is, and start living a normal life.

And Zero is on! That's me trying to do "Zero eyes." I just don't quite have it.

It's been fun getting settled into San Francisco again. We have our favorite grocery store (Cala Foods up on California Street). The cats (that's Steinbeck above) are enjoying the new place the theatre has stashed us. Jim has been focusing very intently on the script for Zero Hour and has made some really nice changes that are getting big laughs in these previews.

Jim does "Zero eyes" pretty well.

People have been asking about our plans to take Zero to New York and the answer to that question is that I can't discuss it yet. I can tell you that there are plans. There are other people involved. But there is no venue or date set. But the people who are interested are very serious and it's not a pie in the sky dream. I would love to tell you more, but it's not my place. But stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the New Conservatory Theatre has put up a very nice set on the same stage where we did The Big Voice not long ago. I love this space and if you ever wanted to see the volcano that is Jim Brochu as Zero Mostel, this is a great venue. For the past several nights, I've been sitting in various parts of the house. And it's equally impactful no matter where I plant myself.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Jim had his first preview last night and the audience went absolutely nuts. There is a theatre next to us and the actors told me later that they could hear the laughs all the way into their room.

However, given the fact that this is a last minute booking, the lead-time for promotion has been very short and so we're trying to get the word out to everyone in San Francisco that the show is here. If you're a reader of this blog, and you can get there tonight or tomorrow night during the previews, we'll give you a $20 ticket. Just call the box office, tell them you read about it on the Bonus Round blog and that you'd like the special advance preview price.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

In case you don't keep up with such things, the Writers Guild of America is now on strike against the film and tv producers. I learned early on when I moved to Los Angeles how abused and disrespected writers are. It was glaringly apparent in the world of songwriting where credits were routinely left off of product, where writers were constantly being asked to take a lower royalty, and where ruthless singers demanded a portion of the song copyright in order to put that song on their record.

In the world of TV, the writers finally just started demanding a producer credit on tv shows in order to find a way to make some kind of living wage. In other words, it wasn't good enough to be a writer. You have to step "up" on the ladder to producer to get any kind of respect.

Mark Evanier has penned an excellent blog entry about the history of how the writers have been, well, gutless cowards in the past, allowing their wages to continually be rolled back -- or allowing themselves to be excluded entirely from some forms of media. Naturally, as Mark puts it, the producers, always smelling blood in the water whether there's any there or not, have tried to totally screw over the writers again. And this time the writers said no.

So, soon everything on TV is going to be a rerun, especially late night TV. At least, until the producers start to feel the pain. Or until the writers give up (again).

I had a great chat with Ken McPherson yesterday, happily reconnecting with him after too long a time. There was a time when we were Cyber Siamese Twins.

(I met Ken about 10 years ago through the Net. At the time, we were mostly discussing the political aspects of the continuing Christians vs. Homos / gay vs. exgays debate. However, as we became friends, I discovered that he is a talented lyricist, arranger and singer who set aside his career in the mid-80s to become an AIDS activist, creating and manning an AIDS education booth on the street corner at Hibernia Beach in the Castro in San Francisco.)

I was happily congratulating him over the fact that this past year, he helped write (and received a featured solo role in) a new piece written and performed by the San Francisco Gay Mens Chorus called USS Metaphor which, among other things, wickedly uses Ken's knowledge of the issues he and I have been talking about for years. I didn't get to see the performances, but I have discovered that they made a DVD and will restage the show on February 22 and 23 to celebrate the release.)

Following its triumphant debut at Davies Symphony Hall last year, SFGMC's hilarious adaptation of Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore is back for an encore. This special concert celebrates the release of the USS Metaphor DVD.

Next year is also the 30th Anniversary of the chorus. They were the first gay chorus. From their site:

The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus made its official debut on December 20, 1978, though it first appeared informally singing a memorial hymn on the steps of the San Francisco City Hall in late November 1978, the evening Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated.

Though he's largely unknown in the hetero community, Harvey Milk was the hero of our movement who was assassinated. Harvey had this ability to communicate with everyone from a street level. He was the first openly gay elected city supervisor. He was murdered, along with the mayor, George Moscone, by a man who only served seven years in prison. There was even a riot.

So, this next year is a very important year for gay people, but especially for the Chorus since it was the year of their birth. Out of the ashes of the death of one man, an entire generation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people discovered that they were in a fight for their own survival. This was a world that wanted us invisible.

Even today, with all our strides in the public arena, there is still a real voice out there that wants us to go away, to not exist. Sadly, the people who wish this on us are mostly religious.

On Saturday, our first full day in the city, I walked down Mason to Market St. to look at the cable cars. Down on Market where the people were lined up to take a ride, was a group of "ministers" with these HUGE signs. I mean GIGANTIC signs showing gay people burning in hell. Bla. Bla. Bla. (I'll take some pics later if you want.)

And I thought about 30th Anniversary concert of the SFGMC. 30 years ago they were shooting at us. Now, they're just a bunch of grown-up clowns, making them and whatever "Jesus" they're "worshipping" look ridiculous. I saw other people standing there angry at them, trying to "reason" with them or argue with them -- and it all made me laugh. It really did. They're literally clowns doing clown things. Their hatred for gays has made them mentally ill. Only a mentally ill person would display such an ostentatious demonstration of religiopathy.

And, yeah, I laughed. Sad, pathetic souls. I was not going to let them ruin this day. In fact, the sky was crystal clear, the air was fresh, the people were bright and cheerful, the city looked spectacular. AND I had just found a book I didn't know was out in paperback: Transcendent by Stephen Baxter, a hard SF writer I am currently obsessed with. (It's the third of a trilogy and I had JUST finished book two).

I walked up just a few blocks and found a grouping of about four Indian restaurants. I decided on the one that looked the most like a diner, sat down in the middle of the well-lit room, opened my book, and let the helplessly overworked waitress work around me. When she finally found me, she took my order and then brought me my Diet Coke, but also a pitcher of water and a dry glass. (I had asked for ice water and a Coke with ice). When she found me 15 minutes later, she saw that I hadn't touched the glass. So I asked for ice.

So, she brought me one glass of ice, which I then poured my Coke into. It was perhaps 40 minutes before any food was brought to me. I didn't care. I was reading. And it was the wrong order. So she took it to someone else. 10 minutes later, she began serving me my somosas appetizer. Then, I had Chicken Vindaloo, the spiciest thing on the menu. As she was serving the vindaloo, she noticed that I had a warm pitcher of water still sitting on my table.

Completely puzzled, she asked if I would like a glass. I look at her with a big smile (not snarky), "Well, unless you think I should drink this from the pitcher..." And the laughed out loud. As she trailed off, I shouted... "With ice!"

CALENDAR

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NEWS: Steve has been honored with the first Broadway World 2015 Special Editor's Award for Excellence in Songwriting by BroadwayWorld,com. Here is their description:
In a field with many deserving candidates, this year's first ever BWW New York Cabaret Award for "Excellence in Songwriting" goes to Steve Schalchlin, a New York-based composer and lyricist who has been on quite a cabaret roll the past two years. Although his two biggest recent projects, the CD and subsequent show, Tales From the Bonus Round, and his song cycle, New World Waking, were years in development, Schalchlin performed both in New York over the past couple of seasons. Bonus Round-which featured Schalchlin at the piano as lead singer--was performed as a cabaret show at the Metropolitan Room in October 2013 (and received a BWW Award nomination for "Best CD Release," and one of the songs garnered a nomination for "Best Original Song for a Cabaret Show"), while New World Waking received a standing ovation when performed at the Urban Stages Winter Rhythms Festival last month. "What makes Steve stand out above the rest for his recent body of work is that he not only writes both music and lyrics, but also performs his songs," says BWW New York Cabaret Editor Stephen Hanks. "But even more impressive is that his songs in Bonus Round compellingly chronicled his battle with the life-threatening AIDS disease, while New World Waking offered important messages about how our planet needs to finally overcome violence, war, racism, and prejudice-and how it might be possible through the power of music. Schalchlin's lyrically powerful and pleasingly melodic songs couldn't be timelier."

ABOUT STEVE

I'm a small town singer/songwriter living in New York City who's mostly unknown. However, I was featured recently in the NY Times and on BBC World News and I just did my first major presentation in years, at the World Domination Summit 2013. Watch the video here.

I was supposed to die, but I wrote a musical instead: The Last Session. That's why I call my life "Living in the Bonus Round." The healing songs from that show set me on a worldwide adventure that is still unfolding. And this blog has created a community of caregivers who seem to want to keep me alive.

I have been open about my HIV/AIDS positive status, blogging about it since March of 1996, before blogs were invented and it continues. My health is strong, but it can fall apart easily. So, I mostly stay close to home, eating as well as I can, and making music wherever anyone will have me.

MORE:

As I said, the Original Diary, which is still online, and which continues in blog form here, was a daily report: a "watch me die online" diary played out in real time, which was intended for my friends and family, and my doc, who wanted me to keep track of symptoms.

As we approached May of 1997, I was failing, eventually hooked up to feeding tubes. I had weeks left to live, if that. And I was telling the whole story online, which nobody had ever really done before because the Internet was so new, nobody had really done anything on it yet except make flashing buttons and other zowie graphics.

Because I was too sick at the time to do much else, the diary gave me a chance to just tell everything that was going on with me. To make me feel not so alone. But still, I was dying. I didn't say that out loud, but that's what was happening.

And then, by chance -- because my name was picked in a lottery for a new medication -- I did not die and The Death Watch became the Bonus Round -- that little extra time you get at the end of a show to go for broke and win all the prizes.

A year later, packed with those original songs I wrote just to keep me alive, The Last Session was playing Off-Broadway to glorious reviews, but it didn't really make me famous. Chances are you never heard of it. But I got to do some AIDS education concerts for awhile, until all the funding dried up. And the requests.

This, in 2012, a weird thing happened. A guy who saw it back in 1997 contacted me, saying how he had vowed back then that if he ever became a producer, this would be his show. And he produced it in a small run in London and that has begat a cast album, which will be out soon on JAY Records. But the London critics went bloody crazy rediscovering my songs.

Too bad I wasn't dead. It would have made the greatest headlines of all: Dead Genius Songwriter Rediscovered. What would he have been capable of if he had lived??

Then, in 2013, because of one of those little AIDS education concerts I did in Memphis in 1998, because some guy saw me, I get an invitation to play at the thing called the World Domination Summit to 3000 motivated artists and activists and writers and etceteras.

Living in the Bonus Round began as one dying man's cry to be noticed, became a community of caregivers and is what would have happened if I hadn't died.

Living in the Bonus Round: where time speeds up and the prizes are better.

My latest project is refashioning "New World Waking" from its concert hall size into an experimental "crowd-sourced event" suitable as a school/church/community project that focus on redemptive non-violence, using real life examples of people who were victims of bullying or other forms of violence. People I met here on the Internet.

I wrote it after I got to play John Lennon's "Imagine" piano because I met Gabi Clayton online, and then wrote and sang the story of her son, who committed suicide after a gay bashing. Then, somehow, George Michael heard about it, and the next day they were filming us:

I also donate my time as the Tenor in the back row and Resident Composer at Christ Church Bay Ridge, Episcopal church, which gives me a chance to learn from one of the great musical directors/musicians in New York, Mark Janas.

Though my primary work, today, is in theater, concert or cabaret stage, I'm really just a simple balladeer, at heart and am likely to sing in a hospice as a huge auditiorium. I'm pretty much the same, whether you put me in a tux or overalls.

The healing power of music is what I believe in.

SONGS:

If you're looking for material for your group, whether civic or religious, I got songs for you! Inspirational music suitable for any kind of campfire event, secular or religious. Easy to learn. With strong, emotional messages of thankfulness, courage and feeling reborn.

You can find these pieces at Watchfire Music. You can download sheet music to my songs as well as recorded demos to help those who don't read that well.

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